In connection with findings from practice, where we have repeatedly encountered the Czech Trade Inspection Authority inspecting the fulfilment of the trader’s information obligation relating to questions of liability for defects, the August legal circular is dedicated to precisely this issue. We are addressing this area also for the reason that in relatively recent times (in 2006) there was a change to the legal regulation governing the scope of the information obligations in question.

The current wording of Section 13 of Act No. 634/1992 Coll., on Consumer Protection, as amended (hereinafter “the Consumer Protection Act”), provides that “the seller is obliged to properly inform the consumer of the scope, conditions and manner of exercising liability for defects in products and services, including the conditions for asserting non-conformity with the contract of sale (hereinafter ‘complaint’), together with information on where a complaint may be lodged and on the performance of warranty repairs.” By an amendment to the Consumer Protection Act carried out by Act No. 229/2006 Coll., an obligation to inform the consumer also of the conditions for asserting non-conformity with the contract of sale was added to this provision. The statutory definition of the term “non-conformity with the contract of sale” may be found in Section 616 of Act No. 40/1964 Coll., the Civil Code, as amended, and this definition may serve as a basis when providing information to consumers. The obligation to inform the consumer of the conditions for asserting non-conformity with the contract of sale naturally applies particularly in the sale of movable goods.

As has already been mentioned above, in addition to information regarding the assertion of non-conformity with the contract of sale, an entrepreneur who sells products or provides services to a consumer is obliged to inform the consumer 1) of the scope, conditions and manner of exercising liability for defects in products and services, 2) of information on where a complaint may be lodged, 3) of the performance of warranty repairs. When creating texts intended for the fulfilment of these obligations on the part of the trader (and generally when implementing them in practice), it is necessary to take into account the statutory limitations which apply to this area of legal relations (statutory warranty, procedure for handling complaints, etc.).

The moment at which the information in question is to be provided to the consumer is not expressly regulated by the Consumer Protection Act. In the case of contracts concluded in the internet environment, however, it is possible to refer to Section 53(6)(c) of the Civil Code, which provides that “after conclusion of a contract using means of distance communication, but no later than before performance, the consumer must be provided with information in writing concerning after-sales services and warranties.”

This text was translated from Czech to English using an AI translator.